I recently bought a tivo on ebay--a series 2 with lifetime. There was a picture of the screen showing its TSN and that it had lifetime. When I got it, I started setting up, saw that it said lifetime and called tivo while doing guided setup. It then changed to 7: never set up. The tivo people said there was NO lifetime service on this box, but at one time it did have a plan.

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Thanks for the reply--I'm POSITIVE that it said lifetime when I turned it on and checked. And the tsn on the ebay posting matches the box.

It could have had lifetime when the seller turned it off. Then he transferred the service to a new box, and shipped the TiVo to you. You turn it on, it still says "lifetime" since that's what it had when it was turned off, but then it connects to the TiVo service for the first time and updates its status and you lose the lifetime.

Hopefully this is just a misunderstanding and you can resolve it with the seller.

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If it says lifetime in ebay ad, just open a dispute (after contacting seller) ebay will give you link to print shipping label you won't have to pay shipping.

Normally the buyer has to pay return shipping in an ebay dispute. It is up to the seller to decide whether to pay for return shipping or not. If you are not well versed in ebay procedures, do a bit of research before proceeding with a dispute and even before communicating any more with the seller. You have rights as a buyer and some power, but you can end up forfeiting some of the rights or the power if you proceed incorrectly. For example, if the seller is a regular seller, they care about their feedback, so you have some power there. But if you say anything like "pay the return shipping or I'll give you bad feedback" then that is considered feedback extortion and any feedback you leave could be removed and an experienced seller knows it. This forum is a great place to get the Tivo-related info you need, look at the ebay discussion forums for the ebay info you need.

Normally the buyer has to pay return shipping in an ebay dispute. It is up to the seller to decide whether to pay for return shipping or not. If you are not well versed in ebay procedures, do a bit of research before proceeding with a dispute and even before communicating any more with the seller. You have rights as a buyer and some power, but you can end up forfeiting some of the rights or the power if you proceed incorrectly. For example, if the seller is a regular seller, they care about their feedback, so you have some power there. But if you say anything like "pay the return shipping or I'll give you bad feedback" then that is considered feedback extortion and any feedback you leave could be removed and an experienced seller knows it. This forum is a great place to get the Tivo-related info you need, look at the ebay discussion forums for the ebay info you need.

Just recently had someone sell me bad drive refused to refund I opened dispute ebay sent link to print shipping label. It may be new but I guarantee he will not have to pay shipping back. I would tell seller problem if he refuses refund and shipping start dispute.

It could have had lifetime when the seller turned it off. Then he transferred the service to a new box, and shipped the TiVo to you. You turn it on, it still says "lifetime" since that's what it had when it was turned off, but then it connects to the TiVo service for the first time and updates its status and you lose the lifetime.

Hopefully this is just a misunderstanding and you can resolve it with the seller.

Not sure how the seller could have transferred the lifetime to another box. Tivo doesn't do that unless it is an S1 put in service before a certain date or possibly if you claim a box as broken they will charge a reduced fee to lifetime a similar box. From what I've read here, that fee is usually $149 which is more than the seller would have paid for another S2 with lifetime so it doesn't seem to make sense. What could have happened is that the seller took the drive from the lifetimed box and put it into another S2 before shipping it.

Thanks for the reply--I'm POSITIVE that it said lifetime when I turned it on and checked. And the tsn on the ebay posting matches the box.

I can return it, at my expense. I guess I have to. I'm just so aggrivated--I know this is the only kind of box that works with AFN and we are being sent overseas.

Now that the status has changed, does the System Info page still show the same TSN and does it match the label on the back? If the drive was swapped into your box from another box that had lifetime, then the intial display would be the TSN and status for the other box. After the connection to Tivo the TSN would change if it doesn't match what is on the motherboard. I have swapped lifetime motherboards into better cases before so the label does not match the System Info screen. Any of this is possible if the seller thought that the TSN and/or lifetime sub was actually somewhere on the hard drive. The TSN is in a chip on the motherboard and the subscription is tied to the TSN. That's why upgrading to a new hard drive does not affect the sub.

OP: Assuming you've tried to work it out with seller, you should open a dispute and ask for FULL REFUND. If ebay finds in your favor, and based on what you've written on this thread, you will receive a full refund and no shipping charges.

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Be sure to keep an eye on things just in case the seller is trying to dink you around until you run out of recourse time. I believe you have 45 days, from the sale date, to deal with it. Sometimes a seller will act like they are being agreeable and then will stretch things out until you are screwed. With electronic purchases I'm always super careful on ebay.

I recently bought a tivo on ebay--a series 2 with lifetime. There was a picture of the screen showing its TSN and that it had lifetime. When I got it, I started setting up, saw that it said lifetime and called tivo while doing guided setup. It then changed to 7: never set up. The tivo people said there was NO lifetime service on this box, but at one time it did have a plan.

Any ideas? Tivo customer service was less than helpful.

Thanks.

And the moral of that story is when buying a TiVo with Product Lifetime Service you get the TSN, call TiVo or use the chat function on the support page, and tell them you're thinking of buying it, here's the TSN, what's the account status?

If it says lifetime in ebay ad, just open a dispute (after contacting seller) ebay will give you link to print shipping label you won't have to pay shipping.

And you will get full refund for the fradulent service this ebayer sold you. I have had a few problems with ebay sellers and found that once a dispute is open with Paypal its amazing how fast you get your money back or its resolved. Bare in mind that you have a limited window to open a dispute.

An S2 without lifetime service isn't worth the cost to ship it back. Make sure the money is refunded before you send it back. The seller could have you send it to another address with a different zip code that isn't linked to their seller account. If they never actually refund your money and you have to file a dispute, your confirmation number will be rejected because it has the wrong zip code.

Not sure how the seller could have transferred the lifetime to another box. Tivo doesn't do that unless it is an S1 put in service before a certain date or possibly if you claim a box as broken they will charge a reduced fee to lifetime a similar box. From what I've read here, that fee is usually $149 which is more than the seller would have paid for another S2 with lifetime so it doesn't seem to make sense. What could have happened is that the seller took the drive from the lifetimed box and put it into another S2 before shipping it.

That's not true.

TiVo had a program to transfer lifetime from your series 2 to a series 3 for $199 for quite some time.

And you will get full refund for the fradulent service this ebayer sold you. I have had a few problems with ebay sellers and found that once a dispute is open with Paypal its amazing how fast you get your money back or its resolved. Bare in mind that you have a limited window to open a dispute.

You should have read the messages from seller, he was so confident messages we sent back and forth would win him dispute despite how the opposite it actually was. Ten minutes after opening dispute I got mail with shipping label link telling me I would get refund when he received package.

And the moral of that story is when buying a TiVo with Product Lifetime Service you get the TSN, call TiVo or use the chat function on the support page, and tell them you're thinking of buying it, here's the TSN, what's the account status?

That's great advice. Thank You! I have a S2 with Lifetime that I want to sell and I wondered how a potential buyer could know for sure that it does, indeed, have Lifetime.

And the moral of that story is when buying a TiVo with Product Lifetime Service you get the TSN, call TiVo or use the chat function on the support page, and tell them you're thinking of buying it, here's the TSN, what's the account status?

This does not work if the seller is a fraud as he could give you a TSN that has lifetime and send you a TiVo without Lifetime, the best way is to look at his feedback and if you get a bad deal open a dispute so your covered, (if the dispute is solved without problems you can still give the seller good feedback and the dispute does not hurt the seller) than send back the unit and have tracking for that shipment.